I was asked to create this thread so I will try to do so in a more positive manner than some of the debate in the other one.
The biggest misconception around the RDM is that it only does a topical cleaning. When I bought my first one, I noticed that one of the water slots was flooding the carpet with the water pouring out in a more downward angle while the other two were shooting across the metal slot like I expected them to. I thought that I had a machine that was out of the ordinary but it was working well so I left it alone. When I bought more RDM's I noticed that they were all capable of shooting the water downward but it needed a certain amount of PSI to do it (usually somewhere near 500 psi).
Months went by as I was using this machine exclusively and I noticed that I was not receiving any complaints or call backs. I also noticed early on, that the cleaning results were better than I was getting with the RX20's so I tried to evaluate what was happening. For one thing, my waste tank was filling up much more quickly, which indicated that it was pouring more water out and since the drying time was shorter, it was recovering a higher percentage of it as well.
All was not perfect in RDM world. I noticed that sometimes the water slots were not pouring downward and diagnosis revealed that several circumstances could cause this. A clogged screen filter in the truckmount could be the cause. The inline water filter, after the 1/4 quick connect could also cause this problem. When using an RDM, these things have to be checked regularly so that it operates in a way that allows the water to shoot downward into the carpet fibers, so it can do more than a topical cleaning.
The clearances in the water slots are so fine that even the slightest particles of debris can clog them, which hinders the water flow into the carpet. The vacuum slots also clog up often and both of these things need to be at 100% efficiency in order for this machine to perform at the level that I claim it can. However, when it is running like this, it cleans like nothing I have ever used and combined with the use of AIRPATHS, is as close as perfect carpet cleaning as you can find.
I would sometimes lift the machine off the carpet slightly and pull the water handle to see how much water it was putting down. It would instantly flood the carpet from top to bottom yet in operation, would extract the water out just as quickly.
Besides its astounding cleaning ability, I really liked the lower weight as compared to the RX20's, its ease of handling and far less destructive nature in comparison to RX20's. I also like how the machine reaches under many pieces of furniture that cannot be moved for varying reasons.
Having said all of this, I still believe that the RV360i is the best choice for most carpet cleaners because it doesn't have to be watched like a hawk to be effective. Besides, the RDM has been discontinued. I hope this answers more questions about the RDM. I believe that most operators of this machine never took the time to figure it out completely and ran it at less than 100%, where it didn't work very well. Bad reputations spread quickly and this machine never enjoyed the appreciation for what it was capable of.
The biggest misconception around the RDM is that it only does a topical cleaning. When I bought my first one, I noticed that one of the water slots was flooding the carpet with the water pouring out in a more downward angle while the other two were shooting across the metal slot like I expected them to. I thought that I had a machine that was out of the ordinary but it was working well so I left it alone. When I bought more RDM's I noticed that they were all capable of shooting the water downward but it needed a certain amount of PSI to do it (usually somewhere near 500 psi).
Months went by as I was using this machine exclusively and I noticed that I was not receiving any complaints or call backs. I also noticed early on, that the cleaning results were better than I was getting with the RX20's so I tried to evaluate what was happening. For one thing, my waste tank was filling up much more quickly, which indicated that it was pouring more water out and since the drying time was shorter, it was recovering a higher percentage of it as well.
All was not perfect in RDM world. I noticed that sometimes the water slots were not pouring downward and diagnosis revealed that several circumstances could cause this. A clogged screen filter in the truckmount could be the cause. The inline water filter, after the 1/4 quick connect could also cause this problem. When using an RDM, these things have to be checked regularly so that it operates in a way that allows the water to shoot downward into the carpet fibers, so it can do more than a topical cleaning.
The clearances in the water slots are so fine that even the slightest particles of debris can clog them, which hinders the water flow into the carpet. The vacuum slots also clog up often and both of these things need to be at 100% efficiency in order for this machine to perform at the level that I claim it can. However, when it is running like this, it cleans like nothing I have ever used and combined with the use of AIRPATHS, is as close as perfect carpet cleaning as you can find.
I would sometimes lift the machine off the carpet slightly and pull the water handle to see how much water it was putting down. It would instantly flood the carpet from top to bottom yet in operation, would extract the water out just as quickly.
Besides its astounding cleaning ability, I really liked the lower weight as compared to the RX20's, its ease of handling and far less destructive nature in comparison to RX20's. I also like how the machine reaches under many pieces of furniture that cannot be moved for varying reasons.
Having said all of this, I still believe that the RV360i is the best choice for most carpet cleaners because it doesn't have to be watched like a hawk to be effective. Besides, the RDM has been discontinued. I hope this answers more questions about the RDM. I believe that most operators of this machine never took the time to figure it out completely and ran it at less than 100%, where it didn't work very well. Bad reputations spread quickly and this machine never enjoyed the appreciation for what it was capable of.
